Dad’s Army co-creator David Croft dies

Comedy writer and producer also created It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi! with Jimmy Perry David Croft, the TV comedy writer and producer responsible for BBC sitcoms including Dad’s Army, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi, ‘Allo ‘Allo and Are You Being Served?, has died aged 89. Croft died “peacefully in his sleep” at home in Portugal on Tuesday, his family announced on his website. “He was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him,” they said in a statement. “We know that he would have been proud that you had all been watching.” Croft’s long-running partnership with Jimmy Perry spawned Dad’s Army, arguably the most successful British sitcom of all time. Originally aired between 1968 and 1977, it remains one of BBC2′s most popular shows even today. The duo also wrote It Ain’t Half Hot Mum – which they considered the funniest of all their collaborations – Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang M’Lord. Croft also wrote Are You Being Served? and ‘Allo ‘Allo with Jeremy Lloyd, and later teamed up with Richard Spendlove to write Oh Doctor Beeching! Croft, who graduated from Sandhurst, rose through the army ranks to major, and served in North Africa, India and Singapore. His experiences in the armed forces provided much of the material for Dad’s Army and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. •

Posted by on September 27, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.